In the essay, Berlinerblau takes on syrupy, unrealistic movies about college professors, notably Mona Lisa Smile (2003), as well as "Teacher of the Year" awards, and even Ken Bain's iconic book, What the Best College Teachers Do. Berlinerblau's point seems to be that none of these depictions of college teachers walking on water realistically captures the realities of the profession.
The same might be said about student evaluations. Understand: I enjoy getting accolades from my students as much as the next instructor. My kudos hit a new high at the end of the fall semester 2016, when I received this response from some of my students in my HR management class, which I taught on line for Drexel University's Master of Legal Studies program:
"Q9 - What does this professor need to improve?
You can't improve upon perfection
The class was great, no improvements needed
Nothing, loved him"
When you get that kind of feedback, it's hard not to love student evaluations. It's also hard to shun the temptation to make your assignments a little easier and your grades a little higher in order to sustain the ego-fix such results induce. The solution is carefully crafted evaluation questionnaires that gather useful data while avoiding ego-boosters.
In my experience, distinguished-teacher awards also often reflect a popularity contest, rather than rigorous pedagogy. Reaching back into the mists of my early career as PR director at Case Western Reserve University, I recall that the top-teacher award in Case's liberal arts college became known as the kiss of death... as one winner after another was subsequently denied tenure. Truth be told, the winner I knew best didn't deserve tenure. His scholarship was thin, at best, and his grading standards were flabby. But he was very popular with the students.
The film which depicts my ideal professor is The Paper Chase. Professor Kingsfield, the contracts teacher at Harvard Law School, presents the rigorous course required to mold mushy undergraduate minds into legal brains. I attended Case's law school not long after the movie came out. And, while my contracts teacher was not as fearsome as Kingsfield, he was pretty tough. The course was worth six credits and spanned two semesters, at the end of which the entire grade hinged upon one four-hour exam. Some of my classmates were so nervous going into that final that they threw up in the men's room.
The Business Insider recently pointed out an "epidemic" of grade inflation and "unearned As" at the high school level. This has spilled over into high ed. There are many reasons, a desire to retain as many students as possible in our competitive environment being not the least of them. Professorial popularity contests undoubtedly contribute to the trend. Berlinerblau's essay, and presumably his new book, would be applauded by Professor Kingsfield or the real-life counterpart upon whom his character was patterned. (See Scott Turow's first book, One L).
I applaud him, too.
No comments:
Post a Comment